Today's business environment has forced companies to compete in different ways than just a few years ago. Companies must now be rapid innovators as well as continue to compete on the traditional dimensions of time, quality, cost, and customization. Successful companies understand that they cannot achieve a necessary level of competitive success in today's global economy without supply chain management. Review Jim Johnson's current situation.

Jim Johnson is the owner of Ever Apparel, a Los Angeles-based apparel manufacturer specializing in athletic clothing. He received a call from James Smith, who is his number one customer.

James informed Jim that he just finished a call with the leading manager of all the team sports in town. The manager told him that the season would be starting early due to the school year ending earlier than scheduled. James would need 5,000 team uniforms by the end of the month. He also told Jim that he would have the final design completed in three days.

Jim was very excited about the large order but had no idea how he would manufacture that many uniforms in such a short time. There was no negotiating that deadline. Ever Apparel was a relatively small manufacturer focusing on making uniforms for organized sports. The most significant order received until now was 1/10 the size. He also knew that a big order like this would create many more future orders and profits if handled successfully.

The factory recently expanded, and Jim knew it could handle the requested volumes. Where would he purchase the raw materials such as fabric to produce such a large volume? Jim called his leading fabric supplier, who reiterated that it would be impossible to produce that much fabric in such a short time. He had to find another supplier quickly. Jim has some tough decisions to make.

The body of the report addressesQuestions 1-4in a clear, concise andcohesive manner. This report shouldbebusiness like,organized and methodical.Please note: each questionshould become a section title.

1. Think through andexplainsome of the options that Jim has to procure the needed quantities of fabric to meet the deadline.Be sure to consider if the alternative solutions help resolve more than a single issue.
2. What are the trade-offs for each of the options?For thetrade-offsidentified, propose potential solutions, and analyze each of them. Any given alternative solutionmayaddress multiple issues.
3. What would you recommend that Jim does?Select a solution that you believe will best solve the identified issues or problems. Describe in detail why you selected that solution. Support that decision with facts and sound reasoning. Make sure that your arguments are consistent with the options provided in Question 1.
4. What aresome of the lessons that can be learned from Jim's situation?Be specific and describe why you selected this particular "lesson".